Forever affordable homes supported by CAF Venturesome and CAF Bank

The Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) has provided nearly £1million in loans and social investment towards the development of affordable homes by a Community Land Trust (CLT) in St Teath in Cornwall.

The funding has been provided to the Cornwall Community Land Trust, an innovative not-for-profit organisation that develops affordable homes, mainly for sale and some for rent, tailored to the needs of local communities across Cornwall.

CAF Venturesome has provided £374,000 of social investment working alongside CAF Bank who have provided a loan of £570,000. To help make the capital raising process easier CAF Venturesome and CAF Bank conducted the due diligence process in tandem saving time and resources.

Established in 2006, Cornwall CLT is one of the oldest and most successful community land trusts in the UK. This is CAF Venturesome’s sixth social investment to the CLT since 2008.

The Trust will use the latest funding to cover the development costs of 8 homes and the money will be repaid through their sale to approved individuals who fit the affordability criteria. The project is due to be completed in June 2016.

Holly Piper, Head of CAF Venturesome, said: “CAF Venturesome has chosen to back Cornwall CLT because we are confident that it will be able to deliver much needed affordable homes suited to the community’s needs.”

“CAF Venturesome has a key role to play in supporting the CLT sector. To date, through our two CLT Social Investment Funds, we have provided 44 facilities to community land trusts that collectively aim to develop a total of 380 affordable homes.”

Richard Hunt, Head of Lending Business Development at CAF Bank said: “Cornwall CLT is building much needed new homes and we were very pleased to be able to support them in this.”

“We believe that Community Land Trusts provide a well-managed and agile way to meet housing need and that the integration with the local community supports their ability to deliver the right housing in the right location.”

Helen Downing, Development Manager at Cornwall CLT said: “With the help of the financing from CAF (part loan from CAF Bank and part social investment from CAF Venturesome), Cornwall CLT is able to provide much needed affordable homes for the community of St Teath. All of the homes were reserved by local families before construction began which we feel is testament to the great need for homes and the quality of home we are providing. These homes will remain affordable to the community forever with Cornwall CLT being the long-term steward of the homes for many generations to come.”

Notes to Editors:

CAF Venturesome is the social investment arm of Charities Aid Foundation and one of the most active players in the UK social investment market. Since 2002 it has supported 480 social purpose organisations with over £39m of affordable finance – through several social investment funds including Community Land Trust Funds – enabling them to flourish.

CAF Bank is owned by the Charities Aid Foundation and lends to charitable organisations. CAF Bank can help bridge a funding gap, provide capital to make major plans a reality or support cash flow.

Community Land Trusts (CLTs) are not-for-profit community owned and community managed organisations run mostly by volunteers and committed to the stewardship and affordability of land, housing and other buildings used for community benefit. CLTs are often used to provide affordable housing aimed to meet local housing needs through keeping an equity share to ensure the property remains affordable into perpetuity.